Present cultivating systems are frequently designed to be attached to a tractor, bulldozer or other excavating vehicles.
Typically, the use of these vehicles results in extra and unnecessary damage to the area being cultivated. Movement of the vehicles backwards and forwards across the area may lead to undesirable compaction of the ground, unnecessary damage to other vegetation, or cultivation of ground which is not required to be planted. As a result, planted seedlings may have difficulty becoming established because compacted ground stifles root growth; loss of other vegetation removes protection for seedlings from frosts, wind or sun; over-cultivation of the ground may mix infertile subsoils with topsoils depleting the availability of nutrients to the plants; and exposed earth may be subject to erosion by wind and rain.
In addition, many cultivating systems are designed for flat areas such as paddocks, playing fields, etc. Typically, the entire surface of the ground is cultivated--often for planting crops or grass species. Frequently, multiple ground-working tools are incorporated in an arrangement which is towed by a vehicle, such as a tractor. Such systems are not designed for and are not capable of cultivating small patches of ground in preparation for single plants.
Further, the cultivating system is frequently towed around the area to be cultivated and the ground-working tools act on the ground in a set sequence. There is often no provision for a particular tool to independently pass over the same ground a number of times to ensure optimum preparation of the ground by that tool. Frequently, the entire cultivating apparatus may have to re-work over the same patch of ground to satisfactorily prepare that ground for plants or seeds.
Systems which are capable of cultivating small patches of ground typically incorporate a single ground-working tool. Often single ground-working tools perform a particular function and act on the ground in a particular way. As a result, separate ground-working tools may have to be fitted and removed according to the stage of preparation of the ground at a particular site. This may be a costly procedure in terms of operator time and the necessity of having to carry several different ground-working tools.
Further, many present cultivating systems are incapable of preparing the ground to the precise requirements for individual plant species--such as seedling trees, on a commercially viable, efficient, consistent and cost effective basis.
After the ground has been cultivated, further preparation of the ground prior to planting of plants may require separate fertiliser and herbicide applications. These separate applications increase the time taken for the ground to be prepared; may involve costs associated with using separate attachments or separate vehicles; may be labour intensive; and may result in wastage of fertiliser and herbicide applied to a wider area than is required.
In addition, fertilisers applied to the top of the ground may be blown away, or leach faster as a result of exposure to the weather. Therefore, additional machinery may be required to work the fertiliser into the ground.
Similarly, systems which require that fertilisers or herbicide be applied after planting has occurred are also time consuming, may involve the use of extra machinery, and may result in inaccurate applications negatively affecting, rather than promoting growth of the preferred plants.
It is an object of the present invention to address the foregoing problems or at least to provide the public with a useful choice.
Further aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the ensuing description which is given by way of example only.